Nacogdoches council accepts downtown implementation strategy and votes to pursue EDA funding for parking garage

The Nacogdoches City Council on Tuesday unanimously accepted a final downtown implementation strategy prepared by the Goodman Corporation and approved a resolution authorizing the city to apply for an Economic Development Administration (EDA) disaster supplemental grant to fund a proposed downtown parking garage.

Goodman principal Elizabeth Whitton told the council the study found a near-term parking shortfall of about 200 spaces and proposed a three-story garage that could ultimately provide roughly 328 spaces and about 11,000 square feet of ground-floor mixed-use space. Whitton said the project is at roughly 30 percent design and that a full three-story facility carries a broad contingency-driven cost estimate in the $20 million to $25 million range. "There is about 200 parking spaces needed in downtown to meet demand now and in the future," Whitton said during…